NEWCASTLE International Airport is set to re-forge its links with Copenhagen only days after the Danish capital’s own transport hub ended its interest in the North East.

Scandinavian Airlines is expanding its regional network and adding a 50-seater daily weekday service from February next year.

And Hans Dyhrfort, SAS regional general manager for Western Europe, said this region would be a key area of development for the firm.

“We are delighted to announce the launch of another regional route and further expansion of our operations from the UK’s sixth most populated conurbation,” he said.

“With 1.65 million people living within reach of the airport, Newcastle is a key area of development for us.”

Scandinavian Airlines already operates regular flights to the Danish capital from Heathrow, Birmingham, Manchester and Aberdeen.

From there it is possible to connect to services bound for Turku and Helsinki in Finland, Gothenburg and Stockholm in Sweden, Oslo and Bergen in Norway, the Polish cities of Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan and Wroclaw, Palanga in Lithuania and even the Russian capital, Moscow.